India frees pigeon accused of spying for China after 8 months in police custody

A pigeon that spent eight months in Indian police custody has been released after it was finally cleared of being a suspected Chinese spy.

The bird was caught at a port in the financial capital Mumbai with “messages written in a Chinese-like script” on its wings, the Times of India newspaper reported.

“Initially, the police had registered a case of spying against the bird, but after completing their inquiry, they dropped the charge,” the report added.

The unnamed bird was held under lock and key at a city hospital while police carried out an investigation.

That probe took an “astonishing eight months”, the India office of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said in a Thursday statement.